The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan-American Highway

by Teresa Bruce

The Drive follows Teresa Bruce on her 2003 road trip through Mexico and onto the Pan American Highway, in a rickety camper with her old dog and new husband in tow. Bruce first set off on the exact same route in 1973, her parents at the helm and their two young daughters in tow, as a reaction to the accidental death of their youngest child, Bruce's brother John John. Her attempt to follow the route, using her mother's travel journal as an anecdotal guide, is as much about her need for exploration as it is about trying to understand her parents and their pain, and to finally begin to heal her own wounds over the accident.

Bruce is immensely talented in bringing scenery of Central and South America to life -- countries from Mexico and Guatemala to Bolivia and Argentina are detailed with her innate attention to detail and sense of storytelling. The Drive details a really incredible journey through these beautiful, at times corrupt and war-torn countries, across roads that are as likely to be barricaded by guerrillas or washed out by floods as they are to be passable.

The Drive is travel writing at its best, combining moments of deep heartbreak with unimaginable joy over a panoply of unforgettable settings.

Genres: Travel, Memoir, Nonfiction, Book Club

320 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2017

About the author

My new memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan-American Highway hits the shelves June 13th. It's from Seal Press, an imprint of Perseus Books, a Hachette Book Company and I couldn't be more excited about sharing an amazing story of travel and adventure.

My writing career began with documentaries that aired on PBS – I’m most proud of “God’s Gonna Trouble The Water” narrated by Ruby Dee and set on the Sea Islands of Beaufort and St. Helena. When I left Beaufort to run the broadcast division of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, the writer I most admire signed a photograph for me with these words: “I hope your period of exile from Beaufort is not long Teresa – much love, Pat Conroy.”

My exile from Beaufort turned into a filmmaking sojourn – until I gave it all up to spend a year retracing my nomadic childhood through Latin America (hint: the new book!)

Reviews

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

“It isn’t practical, my quest to find my rolling childhood home and say a thirty-years-too-late goodbye to a four-year-old-boy.”

This is a memoir of Teresa Bruce who travels the Pan-American Highway in an avion camper with her husband Gary shortly after marriage. This trip mirrors the trip that Teresa went on as a young girl in 1974 with her parents and her sister 2 years after the death of her younger brother. The ultimate goal of the trip is to find the camper that her family had travelled in and eventually sold before heading home. Ulterior motives include recollecting memories, exploring South America, reconnecting with people whose paths they crossed 30 years prior, understanding her parents better, and coming to terms with her brother’s death. She seems particularly interested in learning about her parents’ motives and grieving process during this journey. She does not recollect her parents talking about the death of her brother or even mentioning his name. It is obvious when meeting people along this journey that her mother spoke to others very much about her dead brother, a realization that surprises the author.

To me, this journey felt very foolish. Both trips contained near death experiences. The travelers were pitted against corrupt police demanding bribes. The travelers made poor choices. For instance, Teresa brings a gun along, which haunts her the entire trip. They are continuously embarrassed by their apparent flaunting of wealth in their Avion with American plates as they drive through poverty stricken regions. The writing is disjointed, the characters are coming undone… So, for me, it was a tedious unenjoyable read.

The journey begins after a visit to Teresa’s home and parents. What I couldn’t understand was why Teresa never engaged her parents in conversation about the past rather than decide to relive this journey, that for her, didn’t seem enjoyable the first time. I took a chance on this book from netgalley knowing that I needed to read a travel memoir as part of the BookRiot 2017 reading challenge. I almost gave up so many times. I’m surprised that I actually read to the end. The writing felt disjointed. It read like diary entries that had been slightly reworked with some facts and tidbits thrown in about the history & geography of the area that didn’t necessary fit with the driving themes of the book.

Thank you to netgalley and Seal Press Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Joy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2003, Teresa Bruce and her new husband Gary Geboy decided to travel the Pan-American Highway from Mexico through Central and South America, retracing the same route as her parents had driven in 1973. The original trip occurred after her younger brother died in an accident. Her grieving parents loaded their two daughters into a homemade camper and took to the road. The goal of the Teresa and Gary’s trip was to locate the family’s old camper, which her parents had sold in Bolivia thirty years earlier.

The memoir is structured in parallel narratives, switching between the 2003 and 1973 trips, using her mother's journal as a guide. The couple encounters many difficulties along the way, such as searches at border crossings, expectations of bribes, threats of arrest, civil unrest, guerrilla barricades, and weather-related delays. It also highlights the kindness of strangers, which they found time after time when they needed help. Bruce inserts memories from her childhood alongside her current experiences on the same roads. I particularly enjoyed her meeting with a dentist in El Salvador whom her parents had met during their trip.

The narrative relates details of the changing landscapes, the people they encountered, and the cultural aspects of each country. I found myself captivated by this book. I felt like I was accompanying these two on their travels. It will appeal to readers who enjoy strong travel writing that balances personal loss with the pleasures of exploration.

[Cynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes with bereavement after death or divorce, the bereaved go on travels. Teresa Bruce's parents and sister did after the loss of son/brother John John at age three. They loaded up a 1400-pound camper on top of a under-performing truck to travel the Pan American Highway. Eventually the truck is sold, and the bereaved family returns to the US.

Thirty years later, Teresa Bruce decides that she wants to spend her honeymoon traveling the Pan American Highway to find the camper. Along the way Bruce take and reads her mother's sparse travel journal. Bruce heals more of her grief and discovers some of her parent's marriage she hadn't had a clue about as a child.

Thoughout the text, Bruce speaks of her and her family's memories of the drive being like a slideshow. They remember this or that scene and then tell each other a little something about that scene. Apparently honoring that family tradition, Teresa's husband Gary takes photos of their trip. Then Teresa writes a short narrative combining past and present drives.

Gary is a professional photographer, and Teresa a professional writer. She speaks at TED venues: https://teresabruce.me/tag/ted-talks

Extra Note: Socio-Political: This book allows glimpses into the consequences of our interference in South American politics. B
Teresa Bruce does not absolutely make this connection, but she approaches it. An important awareness to point out in Hispanic History Month.


Read for Hispanic History Month 2021.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors parents in the early 70's decided to drive a home made camper, the length of the Pan American-Highway, through Mexico, Central and South America after a tragedy where they lost their young son John-John in an accident. They take off with their two young daughters on a thought out but not well planned trip. After reaching Bolivia and having had many breakdowns and lots of adventures on the way, they finally let go of their camper and move on.
Now some 30 years later, one of the daughters, Teresa and her new husband, Gary decide to quite their well paying jobs and retrace her parents trip down the Pan-American Hwy in search of her old home, (her dads homemade camper). Armed with her moms old journals a camper of their own and a 17 yr old dog, they head out on their own adventure, wanting to feel what propelled her parents after their tragedy, but also wanting to put that tragedy (John-John's death) to some closure for herself.
I love to read about peoples travels through Latin America and to see their reactions to places and situation, remote from their own. Having lived a large portion of my life in Central America, I can often relate to the reactions or even some of the places I am familiar with.
For me this was a very fun read, which took me right from my chair into their camper, what a ride.
Beautifully written, and this book will have some photos, once published. You can also see them and her parents trip on her website.
I want to thank NetGalley, and Seal Press for the ARC of this book.

[Daniel Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
A husband and wife quit their jobs, get a truck with trailer and travel along a 16k mile highway. The mission was to recreate the "escape" trip her family (Teresa Bruce) took when she was a child 30 years earlier after her younger brother accidentally died.

I liked how Teresa entered in her mother's notes from the original trip and then put the modern stories encountered along the way. It started off slowly and took me a while to get into it, but overall, it was pretty interesting. It definitely picked up steam about halfway through it.

I felt like I was there reading about all the Central and South American towns and cities they went along the way. Bribery, crime and threats from border crossing guards seemed to be a consistent theme for their journey, but at the same time, they met some very kind people always willing to help.

[Ruth Swanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this book because I've heard Teresa Bruce speak and I love her voice and the cadence of her sentences. I read The Other Mother, which I enjoyed tremendously, but this was the story I really wanted to hear. It didn't disappoint. Incredibly interesting, satisfying and beautiful.

[Andy Littleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bruce’s travel memoir merges themes of grief, marriage, international politics, and the meaning of family through an roadtrip down the Pan-American Highway. The chapters are short and engaging. Her husband’s pictures add welcome visual connection. I found myself wanting to finish it, and experience I crave when picking up a book.

[Diane Prokop · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect book for the armchair traveler, as well as, a poignant tribute to one who was lost too soon but will never be forgotten. Think Wild on steroids.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty much the second worst road trip ever, trying to follow the path of the worst road trip ever, to find the homemade camper her family traveled in during the original trip. It was obviously very emotional for the author, but just not that interesting, as more time was spent agonizing over the gun she brought that talking about the places they visited, unless it was to comment on how poor everyone was or ugly the landscape was, or the time their truck was broken into because she left her wallet on the front seat. Ugh, the whining about the gun... that was what made her so sick, not the actual doctor diagnosed illness; she just knew they were constantly on the brink of being arrested for it... just disassemble it and bury the pieces in the desert and be done with it!!!

[Tracy Hollen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

The Drive is a road trip tale, as the title suggests. As a child, Teresa’s father had packed up the family and driven to South America in a dilapidated camper van after the death of his toddler son. Now Teresa wants to retrace those steps with her husband to find the camper and be at peace with the death of her brother.

I love road trips and enjoy a well-told travel book. This was a great account of the journey: the writing flowed and I was engaged in their progress. I appreciate that there wasn’t too much detail and was interested in learning about the places they visited. It was just the right tone to allow for some travel daydreaming, which is always a good thing.

I think there should have been more details of the trip her family took as a child, instead of little snippets from her mom’s journal. The previous trip had not really been a road trip, but a long and complicated journey to a potential new life in South America. Along the way were accidents, illnesses, and young children growing up in alien environments, and I think this should have been stressed instead of just launching into the story like it was an extended road trip.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys travel writing, as it’s a realistic look at driving the Pan American highway, and a unique take from an author who did the same trip, decades apart. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The armchair travel aspect of this title caused me to request an ARC. As much as I love a road trip this is a journey I'll never make. I tagged along on the author's incredible journey through her detailed and intriguing descriptions of regions and events. I gained considerable knowledge by the time "we" completed "The Drive" - from border crossings and indigenous peoples to mud, sunny beaches and friendships forged thirty years ago.

As a girl of seven Bruce made a similar journey with her parents in a homemade camper. I found the comparison of the 21st-century trip and the notes from her mother's diary of interest; plus, the contacts she made with people met during the earlier journey evoking memories most dear from both sides.

The original journey was a family escape from the tragedy of the death of the author's two-year-old brother. I understand an adult's desire to retrace childhood experiences and memories. However, I never completely understood how that retracing in search of the homemade camper was to bring closure or perception to the grief. Perhaps this only reflects on the fact that I have not had to face such tragic memories.

Thanks to Seal Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

[Liralen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A road trip unlike any other, retracing the route of another road trip unlike any other: in 1973, following the accidental death of Bruce's brother, her parents packed up and took Bruce and her sister on a road trip through Central and South America in an attempt to outrun grief. Only a child at the time, Bruce never really had the chance to mourn a brother whose loss she could only sort of understand. Thirty years later, Bruce and her new husband set out to retrace her family's route—and perhaps find the jerry-rigged camper van her family had sold when their trip finally fell apart—guided largely by hope and her mother's scant notes.

So much here is dependent on context. Bruce and her husband didn't spend enough time in any given place to really get to know people or places, just by the nature of their travels. They were largely tethered to their truck, making it impossible not to stand out. This isn't an experience of integration or fitting in or learning about different cultures, just because...well, the goal made that largely impossible.

That goal was twofold: to retrace the route and say goodbye to her brother once and for all—because although he never made it to Central/South America, the entire original tripped was steeped in his loss—and to find the camper van her father had rigged. Hunting it down was largely a fool's errand (who knows where anything is, thirty years later?), and also one that could theoretically have been accomplished in a much simpler manner (i.e., make some phone calls, get on a plane, etc.), but that's not the point of the book. I realised towards the end, before I knew whether or not they'd been able to locate the camper, that to me as a reader, the two possibilities (find the camper, don't find the camper) would be equally satisfying, for all that they'd come with different takeaways.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to read memoirs about people living in places I’ve never been to. When I saw this book about a couple who decide to travel the same route her parents took through Mexico and onto the Pan American Highway, 30 years in the past, I was intrigued.

I found the book very sad at times, because the entire family undertook the journey in 1973 after the youngest member of the family was killed in an accident. Throughout the book, Teresa mentions him. This time, Teresa’s aging dog also adds a degree of both delight and sadness to the story.

I enjoyed reading about their adventures, the people they met along the way and the scenery. Teresa does a very nice job of adding the little details that helped me visualize much of the book. She doesn’t hold back on some of the more frightening encounters they have on the way, and times when they would both decide that they needed to go another way because the path they were on didn’t feel safe.

While I wouldn’t want to try this myself, I did enjoy reading the book, and I recommend it to other armchair travelers.

[Carolyn Pullman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a slog. It was depressing and long. The most exciting part is the hook that it starts with. Maneuvering their camper along a treacherous cliff. I would have liked more of that. That scene continues near the very end of the book. I got the book out of the library because I've decided to visit Argentina myself. I thought I would learn something from this book and I like travelogues. But it's really all about death and loss. Death of a younger brother being the catalyst for this sad journey after her parents's sad one thirty years before. Then death of her dog. Loss of a cat as a child on the earlier trip. I read for entertainment. The places mostly sounded horrible. I didn't know you had to take a boat to cross Panama. I found that part interesting. I'm glad I'm finally done reading it.

[Kenneth Iltz · Rating 4 out of 5]

My wife and I drove through Mexico and into Guatemala in a Volkswagen Jetta. We bought the Jetta knowing that there are VW repair facilities throughout Mexico. We had to rely on one of them after we had an irritating rattling sound. We never learned what generated the sound but the VW dealer fixed the car for free under our warranty. We stayed in hotels. It was a delightful (for the most part) trip.

Going further than Guatemala requires strong nerves. Going further in a car or camper is insane. But heading as far south as Patagonia is beyond insane. Still, Teresa Bruce and her husband embarked on the journey in part to discover the camper that her father drove to South America 30 years prior to her journey.

This is a delightful, easy read. Enjoy!

[John Benson · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I enjoy reading books about traveling in Latin America, having lived there from 1985-1988, I found this book about two road trips thirty years apart in camper pickups to be quite frustrating. In the mid-1970s, after the death of her brother, Teresa Bruce's parents take her and her sister on a trip in a camper pickup down the Pan-American Highway to Bolivia where the pickup was left. Thirty years later, she and her husband try to recreate this trip in their own camper pickup. Both trips are full of misadventures and tragic circumstances. The book includes no maps of either trip. I found that both stories were often minimally told. I like this type of book generally, but found this one quite frustrating.

[Brian James Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, chronicling the author and her husband's trip through multiple countries on the Pan-American Highway is full of memories and scenes in the places they visit. Unfortunately, most of them are pretty bad. They're constantly being stopped by cops who want to be paid bribes, their dog dies, they're haunted by the ghost of Teresa's brother, who accidentally killed himself at a young age. The trip is supposed to be about reclaiming a left behind camper and possibly some sort of redemption, but for the most part, delivers a bad case of the blues. I'd probably pass on this if I were you.

[Misti · Rating 5 out of 5]

“No one can ever take away what I have danced, eaten, and traveled.”

I really liked this book. Teresa Bruce and her husband embark on a road trip down the Pan-American highway to try and recreate the journey she took with her own family as a child. She tells the good, the bad, and the ugly in a way that was like talking to a good friend and it sucked me right in to their journey. Recommended.

[Sarita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book at a used bookstore and thought I'd give it a shot. Wow, what a mix of bizarre & fascinating all at the same time. Having traveled to and lived in several Latin American countries myself, I definitely identified with both the incredibly endearing and absolutely infuriating things that this couple experienced throughout their journey. It was also heart-wrenching to see how clearly unhealed tragedies carry far past our childhoods. What a story.

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Even without the back story that prompted the journey, it is a wonderful chance to experience cultures / landscapes that were only remotely familiar to me. I pulled up maps, articles and images explore as Teresa and Gary moved south. If the purpose of a book is to educate as well as entertain, this book fills the bill for me.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A journey back to ones childhood

Any Canadian or someone from the States who travel have probably dreamed of driving through North, Central and South America. Good story of one families journey in the past decade. This is a return journey from just a few years ago. Found it in parts very interesting. During these pandemic time's it resonance more than ever.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting subject matter and colorful characters. The author is a good writer and this is a very personal story. I want to learn more about South America and politics from the '70's to now since I've read this book. At times I felt like I was in the truck/camper with them.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an adventure! I enjoyed the armchair traveling. I'm afraid I would have given up and gone home less than a week into their 6 month trip.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved every minute of this book! Funny, touching and amazing story about a couple and their unlikely adventures.

[Scott Cox · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my kind of book.

[PAS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read after trip to Central America

[Erika · Rating 1 out of 5]

couldn't get through it.

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book but couldn’t translate the passion or purpose. I wanted to know more details about the travel specifics instead of find the lesson in each chapter.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crazy story! Engrossing read!

[Gena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Great descriptions of people and places.